This invention relates to wood chippers and more particularly to an apparatus and method for regulating the length of wood chips. The invention also relates to a means for regulating the chip length of a wood chipper.
In presently known chipper devices of the non-adjustable category the chip length is constant. In other known chipper devices wherein the chip length can be regulated or adjusted a chipper blade or blade holder is displaced together with a counterblade in order to obtain a desired chip length. The known adjustable chipper devices are generally of complex construction and are difficult to adjust, giving rise to numerous instances of human error. As a result there are often inconsistencies in the chip quality which lead to increased costs in producing acceptable chips.
The adjustable chippers, wherein the chip length can be regulated, are often limited to a minor range of variation in chip length. Such range limits are usually a consquence of uniform chip quality requirements. Thus if an apparatus is capable of making chips with large lump sizes, it is unlikely that the same machine would be capable of producing uniform quality small grain chips. This problem is due to the requirement of a large passage between the cutting blade and the frame disc to permit admission of large chipped lumps. Consequently the adjustable chipping devices are commonly classified as fine grain chippers and lump chippers. A further problem with the known adustable chippers is that a desired change of chip length generally requires readjustment of the position of the cutting blades and the counterblade.
It is thus desirable to develop an improved chipping device which is capable of producing fine grain chips as well as chips with large lump sizes.